About

Shayla L. Monroe, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University and the Principal Investigator of The Zooarchaeology Laboratory at the Peabody Museum of Ethnography and Archaeology. She is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the social zooarchaeology of the Nile Valley, the Sahara, and the Sahel. Her work explores the role of animals, both wild and domestic, in past societies and cultures, with a particular emphasis on the archaeology of Nubia and Egypt. She conducts fieldwork at the sites of Tombos and Abu Fatima in northern Sudan. Additionally, Dr. Monroe studies African pastoralism, investigating the origins and long-term impacts of cattle pastoralism on African societies, and contributes to African prehistory scholarship. Beyond her research, she serves as a consultant for K-12 educators developing curricula on the African past. Dr. Monroe earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and holds dual B.A. degrees in Anthropology and English from Howard University.

Research topics

• Geography
• Archaeology
• Biology
• Ecology
• Forestry
• History
• Art
• Medicine
• Ancient history

Selected publications

• Africa-wide diversification of livelihood strategies: Isotopic insights into Holocene human adaptations to climate change

  One Earth · 2025-06-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Animal exploitation by the last hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean Iberia. New data from the Mesolithic groups from Cocina cave (Valencia, Eastern Iberia)

  Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · 2024-07-15 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Mesolithic groups in Mediterranean Iberia lived during a period of bioclimatic and cultural changes. Thus, their economic behaviour and the availability of plant and animal resources show some interesting variation compared to previous periods that indicate changes in mobility patterns and social connectivity networks. This paper presents information on patterns of animal exploitation of the last hunter-gatherers in this region through zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of faunal remains from one of the key sites of the Iberian Peninsular Mesolithic, Cocina cave. This site is located in a mountainous woodland region with a rich Late Mesolithic archaeological record. Results indicate that Iberian ibex, red deer, and rabbits were the most hunted species, but that a diversity of other taxa were also present. The comparison to other Mediterranean sites suggests that Late Mesolithic foragers had common animal exploitation patterns with an increased taxonomic diversification and a clear connection to coastal areas. We suggest these foragers practiced a logistic pattern of food procurement, combining long-term with short-term camps including hunting spots, and in some cases evidence for broad scale social interactions. We hypothesize that Cocina cave may have served as a nexus of social and subsistence activities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Animals in the Kerma Afterlife: Animal Burials and Ritual at Abu Fatima Cemetery

  Gorgias Press eBooks · 2024 · 1 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Geography
  • Archaeology
  • Ancient history
  PublisherDOI

• Pastoralism, hunting, and coexistence: Domesticated and wild bovids in Neolithic Sudan

  International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · 2023 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Geography
  • Ecology
  • Biology

  Abstract The interactions between mobile pastoralists and semi‐sedentary Nilotic foraging groups in the Middle Nile Valley had long‐term implications for the development of social complexity as seen in the ancient African kingdom of Kerma. This study presents the results of the zooarcheological analysis of animal remains from two sites in the 4th cataract of the Nile valley, El Ginefab and Shemkhiya, and compares findings to other published sites in the region during a period of significant climatic change. Results indicate that the communities living at Shemkhiya and El Ginefab differed in terms of their meat preferences and their primary modes of bovid acquisition, and that pastoralist practices changed at El Ginefab through time. Hunting remained an important feature of subsistence practices, and regional comparisons indicate that the acquisition of wild bovids did not disappear with incorporation of domesticated livestock; however, pastoralists limited their hunting practices to smaller wild bovids in contrast to neighboring forager populations. A clear chronological overlap is documented between communities reliant on pastoralism and those reliant on hunting as a subsistence practice for several millennia. This highlights the need to more explicitly characterize and understand the dynamics of coexistence for the spread and establishment of pastoralism regionally, as well as how social ties, subsistence practices, and land use practices overlapped during periods of critical environmental changes and their implications for emerging social complexity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Zooarchaeology of Neolithic farmers: Herding and hunting on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia

  Quaternary International · 2022 · 3 citations

  • Geography
  • Archaeology
  • Ecology

  Archaeofaunal remains (n = 41,081) from six Neolithic villages in northern Dalmatia indicate the intensification of livestock management from 6000 to 4700 cal BC through changes in the demographic and species compositions of livestock herds that coincide with larger cultural and economic developments in the region. The majority of animal bone at each Neolithic site consisted of sheep and goats. Though cattle and pigs were minor contributors to Early or Middle Neolithic assemblages, both are more prominent in the Late Neolithic. Furthermore, wild species typically range from 4 to 10% of faunal assemblages in open air villages, regardless of phase, and the wild species contain a significant proportion of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). We suggest the shift in the proportions of domestic animal species during the Neolithic signifies a change in management strategies that is also visible in other proxies (e.g., lipid residues), and the presence of roe deer at these sites results from a variety of behavioral responses by farming communities to their changing agropastoral practices and climatic shifts identified in the region.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Sarah B. McClure

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  3 shared

• Martin Welker

  2 shared

• Jelena Jović

  Institute for Plant Protection and Environment

  1 shared

• Alfred Sanchis Serra

  1 shared

• Emil Podrug

  1 shared

• Manuel Pérez Ripoll

  Universitat de València

  1 shared

• Oreto García Puchol

  Universitat de València

  1 shared

• Emily Zavodny

  University of Central Florida

  1 shared